Nisha Mody (she/her) is a certified Liberatory Life Coach, Facilitator, and Writer who supports people in cultivating as much compassion for themselves as they do for others so they can stop shrinking themselves to be liked and start showing up for relational liberation. With a background spanning consulting, recruiting, speech-language pathology, and librarianship, Nisha brings deep insight into how we relate to care, communication, and systems. In all her work, she centers growth, relationship, and liberation as pathways for personal and societal transformation. Nisha coaches clients one-on-one and in groups. She also offers workshops, coaching, and consulting services to organizations.

LINKS

• Website: www.nishaland.com

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/healinghypegirl 

• Free resource: 7 Tools to Cultivate Revolutionary Relationships in a Dystopian World

Fobazi Ettarh’s research is concerned with the relationships and tensions between the espoused values of librarianship and the realities present in the experiences of marginalized librarians and library users. In 2018, she coined the term and defined the concept of “vocational awe,” which describe, “the set of ideas, values, and assumptions librarians have about themselves and the profession that result in beliefs that libraries as institutions are inherently good and sacred, and therefore beyond critique.” In her article “Vocational Awe: The Lies We Tell Ourselves,” she describes how vocational awe can lead to burnout and a sense that one’s own self-care is less important than the work being done.

Helen Rimmer is a kindness and wellbeing coach, consultant, and advocate for creating healthier, more human-centred workplaces. She is passionate about building cultures where kindness, inclusion, and resilience are the foundation for success. Helen is the author of The Kind Librarian and founder of The Kind Brave Leader. She holds a Postgraduate Certificate in the Psychology of Kindness and Wellbeing at Work and is a certified Burnout Coach. Drawing on over two decades of leadership experience in libraries and higher education, her approach blends positive psychology, coaching, and practical strategies to help individuals and teams thrive.

Don Crankshaw is retired from the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library where he was Equity and Well-being Officer, including oversight of the human resources team, professional development, community engagement, and equity and well-being in the workplace. Innovative in the work he did with diversity and inclusion, he strived to equip the library so equitable opportunities could be provided to all employees and to customers. His work in well-being strived to provide an environment so the individual may flourish professionally, emotionally and physically. He has over 30 years of experience human resources and organizational development in both the private and public sectors. Don earned a BS in Marketing from Ferris State University and a Masters degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern Indiana. Don holds several human resource professional certifications including being a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) from Wharton School of Business and certification in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University. Don’s personal mission statement is “I advance respect and equity by encouraging inclusion and fostering individual well-being and growth.” Currently Don co-facilitates servant leadership workshops and retreats with Leadership Everyone and provides consultation services for libraries and library organizations.

Peggy Griesinger works at the University of Notre Dame's Hesburgh Libraries as the Department Head of Cataloging and Metadata Services. She has an M.L.S. and a B.A. in Classical Studies, both from Indiana University Bloomington.

JJ Pionke has been an Instructor of Information at Syracuse University since 2019. He teaches the disability and librarianship course. His award winning research focuses on disability and accessibility in libraries for employees and patrons. Named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker in 2020 in the Advocacy category, JJ is a fierce advocate for improving accessibility in libraries as well as for inclusion and equitable treatment of library employees with disabilities.

Hannah Kukal Curtiss is the Interlibrary Loan Manager for Mid-Continent Public Library. Previously she has been a public library branch manager and a K-5 librarian in a French immersion school. She holds a masters in Franco-Arab Studies and a masters in Library Science. She participated in the ALA Emerging Leaders program in 2023 and has various writings published, including an article in Public Libraries Magazine. She lives in the Kansas City area with her mother, Julie, her husband, Michael, her daughter, Luna, and her 'dogter' Winnie the weenie dog.

Michelle E. Jones is currently Head of Research Services/Senior Associate Director of Research and Professor at Columbus State University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Science in Library Service from Clark Atlanta University. Her past publications have included co-authored items in Women & Language, Women's Studies, The Black Librarian in America: Reflections, Resistance, and Reawakening, and The Handbook of Black Librarianship (3rd ed.). Her research has focused on African American women's studies and current issues within academic libraries.

Angiah L. Davis is currently a Department Head/Assistant Professor at Georgia State University Library. She obtained a Master of Library and Information Studies degree from Florida State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from the State University of West Georgia. Her research interests include library leadership and management, instructional design, information needs and information access of diverse populations, and professional development.

Meg Galasso is the Associate Librarian for History, Jewish Studies, and Religious Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. Her research examines the intersection of fatness and librarianship, centering the perspectives of fat folks to dismantle overt and embedded manifestations of anti-fatness in the profession. This work addresses the very real harms of anti-fat bias, particularly for those who embody multiple marginalized identities, while also highlighting the ways in which fat library workers uniquely contribute to our libraries and communities.

Dr. Ariel Turner is the Associate Dean for Collections and Discovery at Clemson University Libraries in Clemson, South Carolina. Her research focuses on higher education leadership and practice, as well as servant and compassionate leadership. She received her Doctor of Education in Higher Education Leadership and Practice from the University of North Georgia in 2021.

Dr. Shamella Cromartie is the Associate Dean for Organizational Performance and Administration at Clemson University Libraries in Clemson, South Carolina. She previously served as Associate Dean of Libraries at Western Carolina University, where she also received her Doctorate in Educational Leadership. Her research focuses on the recruitment and retention of underrepresented populations in libraries.

Corey Ha is the director of Milne Library at SUNY Geneseo in New York. He was the library's Head of Information Technology Services before becoming the library’s director. He has been an advocate for creating a positive culture by building trust through open communication, transparency, and engagement where all members of the library are respected and valued.